


We didn’t choose this life, we’re just living in it

by Hidingfromtheplanet



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew and Neil meet before canon timing because I'm a sucker for it, Canon-Typical Violence, I need to sleep but I'm an idiot, I'm going to kill Drake Nathan and Riko and have fun doing it, Minor Character Death, Multi, Sassy Neil Josten, Umbrella Academy AU, enjoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:33:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26040445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hidingfromtheplanet/pseuds/Hidingfromtheplanet
Summary: AFTG plot-ish where Andrew and Neil meet before canon and the Foxes have superpowers. A lot of elements are going to be drawn from the TV series the Umbrella Academy, but the plot is going to be different from both TUA and AFTG.I'll fix both the tags and the summary when it isn't two in the morning.It will also get longer, but again, when it isn't two in the morning.
Relationships: Katelyn/Aaron Minyard, Matt Boyd/Danielle "Dan" Wilds, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick/Erik Klose
Comments: 10
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter One

He had always felt it.  
  
Andrew was seven years old, and this home was bad in a different way than the rest when it finally got out, trashing the tiny bedroom after he left. They sent him back the next day.  
  
For the most part, he kept it locked up. Sometimes, though, it managed to slip through his exhaustive iron control. Therapists and guidance counsellors called him destructive and joyless, and maybe he was.

* * *

“Come on, Abram!” Nathaniel bolted upright at the touch to his shoulder. His mother gestured to him in the dim light of the facility. “We’re going on a trip. Be quiet. Do you understand.”  
  
He opened his mouth, but she clapped a hand over it, so he nodded instead.  
  
“Good.”  
  
He climbed silently off the cot and changed into the clothes she shoved at him. Leaving the familiar, plain white facility-provided clothes on the floor, he grabbed his mother’s hand. She squeezed his hard enough to make him wince.  
  
Suddenly, the alarms started to blare through the compound. Mary burst into action, shoving him out the door.  
  
“Run, Abram!” She pulled him through identical hallways, turning into a wing that Nathaniel had never been to before. Exit signs started to point the way his mother went. They were going outside!  
  
They stopped in front of a big metal door and she released him to run over to a keypad. He could hear people shouting, and Lola’s laugh echoed down the hall. He shivered nervously.  
  
“Mom-”  
  
“Come on out Junior!”  
  
A loud beep, and the clang of the doors sliding open had Nathaniel turning around again. Mary shoved him through. “Run! We need to get out of here!”  
  
Lola’s cackles grew louder. His mother shook him. “Abram! We need to leave!”  
  
He jumped.

Alex ducked behind a garbage can and jumped. Susan didn’t even flinch as he appeared in the room, just continued loading her gun.  
  
They had been in Seattle for just over four months, and had left the Baltimore Facility four years ago, cycling through 14 new identities and six countries.  
  
“They were waiting for me after school.” His mother nodded.  
  
“You need to jump us to the car.” She grabbed the duffle bag and his arm as he spun out of existence and reappeared in front of the non-descript Toyota tucked into a couple of trees. Alex crouched on the ground to catch his breath as his mother strode over to the car and pulled open the door.  
  
The car exploded.  
  
Mary was thrown backwards from the blast.  
  
“Mom!” Nathaniel shouted, scrambling over to her.  
  
She coughed, scrabbling at his fingers. Blood was spreading quickly across her torn shirt. “Abram, listen to me.”  
  
Lola’s laugh rang through the woods alongside a police siren.  
  
“Mom, Mom, you’re going to be fine, I’ll get us out of this-”  
  
“Keep running Abram, don’t slow down, and don’t get caught.”  
  
“Just hold on, I’ll fix this.”  
  
He could hear people crashing through the bushes.  
  
“Abram.” His mother’s voice turned steely as Nathaniel looked away from his attempt to staunch the bleeding. “Get out of here.”  
  
She pushed him away roughly, and shocked, he let her.  
  
“Mom-”  
  
“Go!” Mary barked harshly, the air in her lungs catching.  
  
Nathaniel wrapped his fingers around the gun lying beside him slowly. “I’m sorry,” he choked.  
  
His mother stopped moving.  
  
He disappeared just before his father’s men burst into the clearing.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil meets Andrew. Things happen.

Park. Alley. Park. Busy street filled with people- Bedroom?

Someone grabbed his arm before he could jump away. “Who the hell are you?”

Nathaniel panicked, shoving at his attacker blindly, trying to escape to no avail. He reached for the gun tucked into his waistband, but another hand grabbed his wrist before he could get it.

“Hey, fuck! What the fuck are you doing in my room?”

Wait.

The person restraining him was a boy the same size as him. There was no-one else in the room. _His mother was dead_. Nathaniel sagged to the floor, gasping loudly and shaking. The boy watched him carefully, golden eyes and hair glinting in the low light.

“Who are you?”

“I’m nothing,” he managed to gasp out. “Nothing. I’ll be dead soon anyhow-”

The boy rolled his eyes, releasing his arms to clap a hand over his mouth. “Shut up. Breathe, you idiot.”

Nathaniel sucked in a breath, his lungs rattling. The shaking didn't subside. Breathing wasn't really working. _His mother was dead, and his father and Lola were going to hunt him down for the rest of his life_.

The boy's hand disappeared from his mouth and grasped the back of his neck. "Staying alive requires oxygen, dumbass," he snarked.

Nathaniel lifted his head. "That would require survival instincts, asshole. Piss off."

He scoffed. "This is my fucking room. You just showed up uninvited."

 _Fuck_. He had nearly forgotten that he had jumped in front of a total stranger. His chest was tightening up again when the boy growled.

"For fuck's sake." He waved a hand in front of Nathaniel's face. "I don't give a shit that you basically teleported into my room, but if you pass out on the floor, I'll have to explain away your body and I don't want to. So figure out how to function and stop looking like you're going to kneel over any minute."

Nathaniel was too tired to say anything, so he just glared.

"There you go. This yours?" He held up the gun, twirling it around his thumb.

Nathaniel gaped at him, hands flying to his waistband.

"Fighting off a panic attack shits on your observation skills, it seems." He stood up. "You're covered in blood. It's sure as hell not going all over my room, so you're going to wash it off. Come on."

The boy tugged at his shirt, guiding Nathaniel up and poking him down the hallway to a bathroom. Side by side, they were the same height. _That's new_. "If I leave you alone for five minutes, will you run away?"

Nathaniel tilted his head, considering. "Maybe."

He scowled. "Well, don't." He left the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind him.

Nathaniel waited to hear his footsteps move away before locking the door and climbing into the shower. He turned the water on as hot as it could go and stepped underneath the spray with his clothes still on. The water burned but it was still better than months of no hot water at all in the last house they were squatting in.

Blood swirled down the drain, turning the water a dirty red-brown. His shirt and jeans quickly plastered to his skin, but it was better than taking them off in an unfamiliar place. Plus, it washed them at the same time. There was a bar of soap on a small shelf that he rubbed through his hair a couple times before stepping out.

Opening the bathroom door, he saw that the boy had left a towel and what looked to be some of his own clothes. Pulling them inside, he attempted to strip out of his wet clothes, hopping around on one foot while trying to pull the other out of his jeans before slamming into the toilet.

“Fuck!”

He heard the boy rush towards him. “If you fucking disappeared, I swear to God-” He rapped on the door. “Hey, asshole. I’ve still got your gun.”

“Shut up,” Nathaniel called back, sticking his tongue out at the door childishly. He shoved his legs into the sweatpants, gathering up his wet clothes under an arm and silently thanking small mercies that the bathroom mirror had fogged up as he mustered up the courage to take the contact lenses out of his eyes. They had already been in for too long, and there was no point in either giving himself an eye infection or trying to hide such a little thing from a boy who had already seen him jump through space.

The boy was waiting for him as he stepped through the door, leaning against the wall and picking at his nails. “Surprise, surprise, the rabbit hasn’t run,” he scoffed, leading the way back to the room. Nathaniel trails behind him, confused.

He should be panicking, he should have disappeared, he should have run, but he didn’t. Why? He appeared out of nowhere in front of this boy, covered in blood, and instead of calling the police or killing him the boy calmed him down and gave him clean clothes.

The boy shuts the bedroom door behind him before shoving the bed forward a bit to block it from being opened as Nathaniel sinks to the floor. Satisfied with his impromptu blockade, the boy sits down in front of him.

“We’re going to play a game.”

Nathaniel starts. “What kind?”

The boy tilts his head carefully. “Truth for a truth. I’ll ask a question, then you can ask one. We both answer honestly, but you can pass if you don’t want to answer at all. I go first.”

What has he got to lose? “All right.”

“What are you running from?”

Nathaniel glared at him. “Going right for the throat?”

The boy shrugged unrepentantly. “That’s not an answer. Pass if you want, but don’t lie to me.”

Nathaniel shrugged back, trying to act casual. It didn’t work. “M-my-my father.” He admitted, looking down at his shaking hands. “If he finds me, he’s going to kill me. We’ve been running from him since I was nine. He killed my mother today.” Nathaniel choked. “ _God,_ he killed my mum. I’m going to die-”

For the second time today, the boy pulled him back from the edge with a warm hand on the back of his neck. “You’re like a trashy magazine,” he muttered, shocking Nathaniel out of his spiral.

“What?”

The corners of the boy’s mouth pulled up minuscule. “Too many issues.”

He huffed. “Rude.”

The boy scoffed. “Whatever. You gave me three truths, asshat. Ask away.”

Nathaniel started. “Oh, um. Ok? What’s your name?”

“Andrew.”

“Anything else?”

“Andrew Doe.” _Ugh._ Getting reactions from him was like pulling teeth.

“Oh. Why Doe?”

The boy- Andrew rolled his eyes. “I’m a foster kid. They don’t know my real last name, so they gave me Doe.”

“Oh.”

Andrew sighed in a very long-suffering way. “Is the only word you say oh?”

Nathaniel scowled. “Are the only things you say insults?”

He clicked his tongue. “Touché. What’s your name?”

Nathaniel flinched. “Nathaniel,” he whispered softly.

“Why don’t you like it?” Andrew cocked his head.

Was it really so obvious? “My father’s name is Nathan. I’m named after him.”

Andrew’s golden eyes turned surprisingly angry. “Fuck him. Take it out. You’re Neil.”

 _Oh._ “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t.” The answer was automatic. Andrew relaxed slightly. “I don’t like bullies.”

Neil twisted his fingers together, confused. “Thank you.”

Andrew scoffed again. “You’re tragic, runaway.” The silence only lasted for a moment. “How did you appear in my room?”

 _Fuck_. Neil had almost forgotten. _Fuck, fuck, fuck-_

Andrew snapped in front of his face. “Don’t lie to me, rabbit. Answer me, and I’ll tell you a secret too.”

Neil took a deep breath. _If worst came to worst, he’d just run again_. “I can jump through space. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why. My father kept me in a facility, studying me, until my mother took me and ran.”

Andrew narrowed his eyes at him, searching. “I promised you a secret, didn’t I? I am like you.”

“What?” What, what, what? What on Earth?

“I cannot teleport, but I can do something else.”

 _What?_ “What is it?” What are the odds-

“I don’t know.”

The choo-choo train of possibility screeched to a halt. “What?”

Andrew scowled, _again_. “I’m fairly sure the only words in your vocabulary are ‘oh’ and ‘what’. I let it out once, and I destroyed a room. I let it out a second time, in the middle of the woods, and the trees were destroyed. I can’t control it.”

Now it was Neil’s turn to cock his head. “But you could, if you were taught. I had to learn, to jump, too.”

Andrew’s eyes gleamed. “I’ll make you a deal. You teach me how to control it and I will use it to protect you. I promise.”

 _What-_ Neil had never thought that he would believe anyone who said that but maybe -with his mother gone, what did it matter- but what if Andrew could? Nothing about Andrew said he was exaggerating or lying, and there was no reason to. Maybe-

“Ok. I promise too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My goodness. I’m so happy with the positive reviews and how many people have actually seen this fic. Thank you so much, those that left comments and kudos! When I opened my email and saw them, my friend had to listen to me (figuratively) panic on Discord for quite a bit.  
> Ok. So, I’ve got a full plot if that makes anyone feel better. It’s all flushed out, I just need to actually write it (which will be the hard part, so it won’t be done for at while)(I’m really sorry). Seeing that people actually liked my idea gave me so much incentive to continue with this fic that I’m posting chapter two earlier than expected. Thanks so much for the interest, by the way.  
> Second, I’m changing canon times for a lot of stuff, just to make sure that character relationships have enough time to develop the way they should. The majority of the fic will actually be the canon ages for the characters, with a little bit of premise/backstory involving Neil and Andrew. Has anyone read Way Down We Go by nekojita? It’s a bit like that, where Andrew and Neil meet and make a promise to each other before they meet the other Foxes, including Aaron and Nicky.  
> One last thing: powers. Neil’s power is based off of Five’s (from the Umbrella Academy), but he’s obviously such a different character than Five that I think his understanding of it would also be very different. Five is able to calculate how to time travel and ends up jumping a lot farther than he can handle. Neil is very cautious, and definitely wouldn’t try time travel on his own. Andrew, on the other hand, is based slightly off of Ben. The big difference is that he doesn’t like, sprout tentacles or something. Andrew is more like the host of a very destructive demon-like thing that takes over his body when he can’t control it. It’s actually more like the Hulk (but less… green), which also means that he ends up figuring out how to connect with it and control it much better than shoving it down (I’m sorry if you would count that as a spoiler, it’s more of a teaser?). The rest of the characters’ powers will either work the same as the UA characters, or are ones that none of the UA characters have in the first place.  
> Can’t wait to dive more into this AU with you guys, and thanks for reading!
> 
> PS. I’m sure that the Andrew quote about the issues is incorrect, but I can’t find it anywhere. Can anyone remind me where it is and what the proper wording is?  
> PPS. I’m also super glad that at the end of this chapter Neil figures out his own name and Andrews, it was Pissing Me Off that I had to write “the boy” for like a thousand words.


	3. Chapter 3

Neil paced in front of Andrew, the first of the falling leaves crackling underfoot. For the last couple of days, Andrew would meet him in the woods after school to practice controlling what Andrew had dubbed his "Monster". They weren't getting very far.

"Using whatever we have, it's addictive. It's hard to control because on an unconscious level, no matter how bad it might be, we want more of the rush. My mom told me to use an anchor, to hold myself in place and prevent me from just continuing to move until I drained myself out. Yours doesn't work the same as mine, but the concept is the same. If you don't know who you are, find something to focus on that reminds you."

"That's it?" Andrew scoffed.

Neil stuck his tongue out at him, coming to a halt. "That's all I can do for now. The rest is up to you." He regarded Andrew for a moment. "Maybe up wasn't the right word."

"Piss off, you’re as short as me."

"Do something then."

The air around them seemed to still. _This is it._ Nothing happened.

"Come on!" Neil couldn't prevent himself from his foot childishly. "How can I keep my end of our bargain if you won't do anything?"

Andrew didn't say anything. Neil looked closer. His fingers were twitching slightly. Nervously. _That can’t be it..._

"Andrew."

"Neil."

Neil scoffed. "Andrew, you aren't going to kill me."

Andrew crossed his arms. He would probably look intimidating -if only he were taller. "You don't know that. You practically radiate stupid, for all I know you'll wrap yourself in a red flag and start dancing around."

"What?"

Andrew rolled his eyes, scowling. "Whatever."

Neil scowled back. "If I think I'm not safe, I'll just jump out of the way."

"What if you can't jump fast enough."

"Fuck off and focus." Now it was Neil's turn to cross his arms. "Why aren't you trying?"

"I am!" Andrew bit out. "I'm trying to keep my promise, and I can't do that if you're fucking dead!"

Neil tilted his head, thinking. "You don't know what it will do. And you're scared of that."

"I'm not scared," Andrew muttered.

"Prove it." Probably not the right thing to say, based on Andrew's expression. _Oops._

The air hummed, and small shocks started to ripple away from Andrew's feet. Neil scrambled for a hold on his power, watching carefully.

Andrew seemed to crackle with energy, pressing his hand to one of the massive trees surrounding the clearing. The forest groaned and shattered.

Neil moved as Andrew sagged, grabbing hold of him, and jumping them away from the splinters falling from the sky. Andrew slumped to the ground, drained, as Neil took in what he had done. His breath caught in his throat.

Instead of the singular tree he had been focusing on, a swath of the forest fifty meters wide had been cleared. The only remains of the trees that had been there for decades were thousands of splinters, blanketing the area.

Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it.

* * *

That evening, they were doing Andrew's homework on his bed after Andrew had dinner with his foster family. Neil was reading the math textbook, trying to keep his education in at least one subject passable, as Andrew edited his book report. Neil looked up from the textbook to find Andrew watching him.

"What?"

Andrew switched his gaze to the ceiling. "I'm bored."

"Read a book." Neil continued reading the textbook. He looked up when Andrew's finger poked his cheek. "What?"

"Already did. Still bored."

He huffed, closing the textbook and pushing it off to the side. "What do you want me to do about that?"

The answer was instantaneous. "Tell me a story."

Neil started. "I don't know any."

Andrew frowned. "Number one, that's pathetic. Number two, you were on the run for years. You've got to have been somewhere interesting."

"I don't know-”

“Liar.”

“Ass.”

Andrew smirked, knowing he’d won. “Story.”

Neil sighed, rolling over onto his back. Andrew shifted so that they were lying side by side, close but not touching. Even with his power, Neil didn’t believe in a God, but it seemed as if they were in their own little bubble of peace and safety, created just for them. A warm feeling filled his chest. “In Paris, there is a bridge covered in locks…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. This chapter is much shorter than I intended it to be, but this is what I have and it really didn't feel right to tack another scene onto this one, so I'm just going to make what I intended to be one chapter into two. Don't worry, there will be more to come, at the very least by next week. My school reopening has been pushed back until September 14th, so I get an extra week of summer vacation! 
> 
> Ok, so the bridge referred to in Neil's story is called the Love Lock Bridge, and traditionally couples would lock a padlock onto it. I've actually crossed over it when I visited Paris, which was pretty cool. So yes, Neil is telling Andrew a story about love. I've got this mini-headcanon that Neil is actually a quiet romantic, but only with Andrew. He doesn't think that romantic things that other people do are sweet or nice, but he loves at any chance to get closer to Andrew and show him how much Neil loves him. 
> 
> One last thing: I feel really bad not answering comments, but at the same time if I did then I'd basically be saying the same things over and over again, which will make me think you readers don't think I value your comments as much as I do. I do read them, and they make my day, especially because this is my first proper published fic. So, if there's a question that more than one person has asked, I'll most likely answer it in the end notes. If the question is uncommon I’ll probably answer directly, and if your comment has no questions, I just want to say thank you so much for the support and the interest, and I hope that this story plays out and I manage to write it in a way that you really enjoy. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Neil leaned against the bike racks, flipping through the newspaper as he waited for Andrew to get out of school. He didn’t glance up from the crossword as somehow-already-familiar footsteps made their way over to him, but when Andrew didn’t say anything he folded the paper in half and shoved it into his new (very very very old and salvaged from the garbage bin behind the thrift shop) backpack carefully for later before looking up.

“Andrew! What happened?”

Andrew attempted to roll his eyes, but the effect was lost when one of his eyes was blocked by a swollen, dark purple bruise. “It doesn’t matter.”

Neil scoffed and reached out to him, fingers stopping an inch away from his skin. “Yes or no?”

Andrew did something that could be considered a blink, had he two functioning eyelids. “Yes.”

Neil cupped his face gently, poking slightly at the bruises running along his chin. Andrew winced as he prodded the large bruise at the corner of his jaw and Neil scowled at him. “Tell me the other person looks worse.”

Andrew’s mouth turned up at the corner slightly. “Other _people_ , and yes, they do.”

Neil nodded, satisfied. “Good. Where to: back to the house or the woods?”

The hint of a smile dropped off Andrew’s face, and the sun went behind a cloud. “Woods.”

They took the long way there today in order to stop by the drugstore, and Neil shoved the newspaper at Andrew, along with his backpack.

“I’ll be back,” Neil said, pulling up his hoodie.

Andrew shrugged and leant against the wall, flipping to a random page.

It was instinct to duck his head when going past the cameras, and to grab only the bare minimum. He eyed the prices on the different boxes of band-aids before picking some with cartoon cars on them. The cashier was a teenager who looked bored out of her mind, and racked up his total while eyeing the magazine she had to put aside.

Andrew was still waiting for him when Neil got out of the store, but had actually started to read the paper. Neil peeled the backing off on of the band-aids and was attempting to stick it on the slice across his forehead, Andrew smacking his hand away lazily every time he got close.

“What the hell are you trying to put on my face?” Andrew finally decided to look up from the newspaper. “Are those cartoons?”

Neil scoffed. “Cartoon _cars_. You like cars.” The heading of the article caught his eye. “What is that?”

 _Eccentric Billionaire Tetsuji Moriyama Reveals Raven Academy for Superhero’s Protégées: Riko Moriyama and Kevin Day_. Oh no, oh no, what are the odds-

“Neil!”

He snapped back to attention. “What?”

Andrew scowled. “Don’t give me that bullshit. What the hell is going on?” Neil didn’t even realize he was shaking until Andrew gripped the back of his neck firmly.

“What are the odds, Andrew?” Neil whispered. “My father meets with Tetsuji, I get to play with Riko and Kevin, and the very next day my mother takes me and runs? Now Riko and Kevin are like us.”

“Neil.” Andrew’s golden eyes were the calm in the eye of the storm. “Whatever they throw at us, I can take it. You’re safe. I’m going to protect you. Understand? Yes or no?”

The shaking subsided as Neil nodded slightly. “Yes.”

“Ok.” Andrew stood up, brushing the dirt off his jeans. “Let’s go home.”

Neil didn’t think he knew what home was, but with Andrew, maybe he was already there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry?
> 
> Ok I have multiple excuses involving being hit by a truckload of schoolwork, but like. Sorry for not updating forever. I actually have a bunch of things written, they just aren't in order and I need to write filler chapters and I don't want to do that. 
> 
> Yeah. Here's the chapter, might have to add a little bit to the very first one, whoops. FYI, don't expect Neil to figure out any emotions at all. Also an Andrew chapter will be next, when I actually finish up my schoolwork with energy to spare for fic writing. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Edit: Posted it, looked at it, realized it's fricking short. I'm going to try for more short updates instead of slow long ones.


End file.
